Creating a Diorama with Trees and Rocks, step-by-step
 

Hello again!

My son and I have started another father-son project... this time a diorama with a rock face/cliff and maybe a tree or two.

As before, I'll be posting our progress with this thread.

Note: For our previous diorama how-to, which was the ranger station, please see this thread: http://www.joedios.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2086. Thanks again for all your comments on that past project. Was fun!

Now keep in mind that what you see in the rest of this thread - I have never done anything remotely crafty/hobbish like this before, so feel free to critique, cause I'm gonna make some mistakes... but that's all part of learning right?


Let's Start with a Tree Experiment

Firstly, we took a used paper towel roll and added some bits of bended cereal-box cardboard to the end, to make the tree seem like it gets wider at the bottom. The main thing I'm after here is to make sure that the tree does NOT look uniform in shape at all... Nature isn't after all ;-)



Using some air-dry modeling clay (this particular clay isn't clay at all, it's actually made from volcanic ash and apparently it's non-toxic) we apply the clay to the paper towel roll, starting at the bottom and working our way up... smoothing and blending as we go.



I taped over the top of the roll and then covered it all in clay as well. Here's a picture of the clay application process finished. Took about 10 minutes.



So we let it sit for 10 more minutes and then I took a sharp paring knife and gently curved lines in the clay, to make the bark look natural. I made some sweeping lines, vertical lines... and I stopped and started in different areas... basically just being totally random. I would like to note, that you should use a very sharp knife for this part, a dull knife we tried left miniscule clumps of clay along the lines, which looked bad.



So there you have it! We have started project number 2! Stay tuned for more updates and photos as we progress.

Cheers! ~ Paul.

Onto the Rock Face!
 

So, we'll let the clay on the tree air-dry for awhile... now onto the rock face!


Our Rock Face Experiment

Now, we looked and looked for a casting plaster called "Hydrocal Light" but could not find it anywhere locally. So we fell back onto Plaster of Paris. Be careful with this stuff, it's quite toxic and can burn skin when it reacts with water. Hydrocal is supposed to be superior in every way... Plaster of Paris is mainly for pouring into molds, but as you'll see below, I tried using it a different way with mixed results ;-)

To start, we setup our rock face backing and used masking tape to hold in the crumpled up newspaper in place. The side closest to the camera will be a ledge for joes to hide on, thus jumping off wildly onto unsuspecting cobras below.



Mixing 2 parts plaster of paris, to 1.5 parts water, I dipped 3" strips of paper towel into the mixture, and then laid it onto the surface as shown below.





At this point, we're about 5 minutes in and it starts to harden faster that I was expecting. The paper towel edges are quite apparent, so I stick my hand in the bucket and pull some out to slap on the surface. This was working well until about another 4 minutes past... then it became clumpy and quite difficult to work with.



Ok, whew! We're finished for now. I'm not too happy with the clumpy look of the rock face. I think adding some plaster of paris mixture by hand at the end kinda ruined the smooth look it had. We'll let it set over night and maybe add some more mixture to it tomorrow to smooth it out. We'll see...



Cobra Commander standing on the rock face ledge... "With my authority, I claim this rock face Cobra Island!"




So there's some rock. Who knows what it will look like when we're done... a few misteps we think - but we'll attempt to clean it up later! Flying by the seat of our pants here! Woot!

Cheers! ~ Paul.

Back to the Tree
 

Ok, so we go back to our tree trunk... and start to paint!

Using acrylic paints, we followed through with the plan to use a light color first, then dry-brush on a darker brown. It worked out ok we think!

Laying down the first application!





Here's a shot of Cobra Commander, slithering around the tree!



Now we dry-brush on a darker brown color as shown below:



And again, using Cobra Commander as a subject - we find that the dry-brushing looks somewhat ok... but we need a third pass to make it not-so-splotchy. This pic is after the first dark brown pass:



Here's a couple of shots after the second pass of darker brown. Looks fantastic upclose and even better 4 feet away! I'd say we have a sucess on our hands here! My son was thrilled with it. Who knew a hobby-tree could make an 8 year old Joe fanatic so happy! Woot!





And there you have it for now! Comments, suggestions are most welcome and infact encouraged! Thanks!

Cheers! ~ Paul.

Looking great, Paul, i'm definitely going to try some of your projects sometime. Will there be more to your Trees and Rocks how-to is this all for this project? Fantastic job

We've only just begun!

We just started this diorama project this morning!

Thanks!

Paul.

I've been waiting for you to start on this. We both were on the same track, it seems, as I've been saving our paper-towel rolls (and even TP rolls) to do this very same thing. Anyway, fantastic job you're doing. I'm anxious to see how this progresses! As always, keep the great pics coming!

Painting the Rock!
 

Before we get to painting - last night we mixed up some more plaster of paris, turned the whole rock wall on its side and poured it all over to smooth the whole thing out. Looks much better we think, you decide!


So we let the plaster dry for just over 14 hours... then my son was itchin' to paint it... so we whipped out the paint and got busy!

We first applied dark grey (using acrylic paint here again) to all surfaces, making sure we had a good thick coat on there...



And here we're almost done!



My son posed Beachhead next to the rock to see how it would look. He is not satisified with the tree paint application - he wants to make it darker... maybe tomorrow ;-)



Next, we took some white acrylic paint, and mixed it with water... quite a bit of water... and then used a huge paint brush to smooth it onto the higher points of the rock. It's hard to see it in the pic, but in person it looks way different than before.



And here is a final test shot of Beachhead with the rock in the background.



We went out looking for something to make good grass with today, but came up empty handed because the hobby shop we've had luck with in the past is closed on Sundays :mad:

So far our rock wall is looking more like a volcano errupted and then cooled ;-) with the sweeping lines. Not sure how one would go about making more pointed square rock... probably not with our plaster of paris method. But regardless, my boy is happy with the results and we had fun doing it.

Cheers! ~ Paul.

I like the rock wall, so nice job! :D Keep going!

Thanks!
 

Thanks Sephron!

This little dio is our test case for making that bigger 2-storey stone building with rockwall I sent you last week as a hand-drawn sketch. If this works out ok in the end, we'll start that next!

Cheers! ~ Paul.

I started work on my building today...all cardboard, masking tape, cut-outs for the door and windows. I'm going tomorrow to buy paint and a base to set it on. It's going to have a barbed wire, perimeter fence going around it. I haven't decided yet if it'll be in the arctic, or maybe a more forest/jungle type setting. Hmm... Spring is coming... We'll see. Anyway, it's all thanks to you and your awesomely-well detailed "how-to's", so thank you!

I'm REALLY looking forward to seeing that little drawing you sent me come to life. So get crackin'!

Coolio!!!
 

Man, that sounds wicked sickola. You have to post some photos as you go!

A fence sounds great! I wanted to do one on the last dio, but felt that I didn't plan for it at the beginning, so there was no place for it to go. My suggestion, build the fence such that it can seperate from the main building dio/platform, that way you can remove it for close-up shots around the building and such.

What materials are you using for the building construction? Going brick? wood? or something else?

Cheers! ~ Paul.

I took a bunch of pics last night, showing where I'm at thus far. I didn't bother with in progress pics, really, as it's just not necessary after your excellent tutorial.

Yeah, my fence is going to be entirely removable/remoldable. It's made from gutter-mesh, and Ender did a great "How-To" on it in here, as well. I learn so much from JoeDios!

As far as building construction, I'm not quite sure what I want it made from. Since I haven't quite decided where I want it located (arctic, forest, etc), it's kind of up in the air still. I'm thinking more foresty, so perhaps I can attempt the brick set up, as you've done. It's pretty big, though. I'll post pics and maybe I can get some feedback. It's going to be a communications station for the dio I'm working on. Maybe that will help?

Now, as for you, it's a new day, so get back to YOUR project and keep me inspired and motivated!!

Let's Get DIRTY!
 

Time to add the dirt.

I used Woodland Scenics Ballast (Flocking, Ground Texture etc)... and mixed up 2 different grades (medium and coarse). My wife was the one that laid down the glue as I sprinkled on the texture ;-)



and here's a shot of the whole diorama as it sits right now.... drying...



Letting it dry, and then I'll pour the glue/water mixture on it to harden. Then we're ready to start adding in trees, and I have some wicked stuff for tall-grass that my son found at Michaels. The reddish-brown patch on the surface is just acrylic paint, that's where we're adding in the tall grass.

The rock face is starting to look not bad...

Cheers! ~ Paul.

Very nice Paul! The ground looks great, and I love that darker area where the tall grass is going to go. I was thinking about that, because as I put up my perimeter fence, I am thinking of having a small little area of forest nearby, so I am looking forward to seeing what you come up with. And then shamelessly copying it.

Yes, the rock face looks very good! Gosh, there are so many things I want to do now and you keep giving me all of these great ideas! That's why I love it here, and in the Joe community at large, as it's just such a great and diverse place to be. So much fun!

So, after the grass and trees, what next? Is there more to this particular one or is this a prelude to the next project (and by "the next project", I cheerfully mean to say "the project I'm REALLY jonesing for so what's the hold up, and don't give me that work/family crap!! ;) ")?

There is no shame is making cool sh$t. You or anyone is free to try anything we're doing on here, otherwise I wouldn't post it ;-)

Yeah, I like your comment about a forest behind/beside the structure. If haven't found any plant material that has the "thick look" without using soooo much of it (if that makes sense?). I found some tall plastic grass that looks horrible by itself, but have a heap of it and it looks deadly. I'll see if I have time tonight with my son to apply it.



That's the plan Stan. Glad that Tracker posted his 2-storey, his stairs are coolio. We've got 3 diorama how-to's going down right now on joedios.com! Woohoo! Show and Learn my friends, show and learn...



I have some ideas. I made a few more clay trees. Used a much cheaper air-dry clay and it was a beyotch to work with. My son got frustrated, so I took over ;-) I wanted to make a few more trees, that were skinny and not so thick. My son is painting them today. We might use them all for this dio, or maybe hold onto them for a future dio project.

I'll try to keep going at a good pace with this dio, thanks for your comments. Work is insane lately, I find doing this project at night is helping me de-stress...

Cheers! ~ Paul.

Adding Tall Grass
 

As I noted a few posts back, my son found this tall grass plastic stuff at Michaels. It works wonders when bunched together.

We used a hot-glue gun to adhere them to the surface... positioning each one carefully as we went. Here's an overview of the grass applied to the diorama. We like how it turned out.



Here's a close up shot, which makes the grass look much more bountiful than it is. This is gonna look crazy sick in photos ;-) You can actually stand figures right in the grass, which looks insanely scwheet!



There you have it! Onto the other foilage! Woot!

Cheers! ~ Paul.

Bring out the Foilage Baby!
 

This part was real fun.

Again, my son found these plastic leaves-vines thing at Michaels... it's wire, with the leaves that slot on the vines with a peg-hole setup.

Took the wire cutters out and clipped and started hot-gun glue'n the begibbes out of it all over the place. We held on each piece and stood back to see if it was were we wanted it, then applied the hot-glue action.

Here's a close-up, the leaves really fill in the diorama and make it seem much more life-like. The rock wall behind the figures is minimized as it should be IMO.



And here's a wide shot of the whole thing with the leaves in place. We wrapped the vines around the trees, looks slick we think ;-)

We also pulled off extra plastic leaves and glued them onto the vines to fill out certain areas. It helps when you do this to put your face down in the various possible photo-taking angles and look.... then fill in with extra leaves where necessary.



Also you may notice that we added some ferns. I think the ferns are out of scale with the joes, but we minimized them and they work.

Thoughts, comments anyone?

Cheers! ~ Paul.

That's It! Done!
 

I declare this diorama done. Stick a fork in it, it's cooked.

My camera's battery died (again, I'm using a 1999 Nikon 885 digital with only one battery and it doesn't charge much)... so I didn't have a chance to take some cool night-shots with my LED light setup.

I'll try that tomorrow and see how it turns out.

Thanks everyone for their comments/suggestions. Let's keep the joedios.com forum buzzin' with projects and how-to's... I find that in the past 2 weeks, knowledge is pouring out of folks here, and that's coolio by me.

Rock on people. Rock it on until it hurts, then just keep goin'!

Cheers! ~ Paul.

Out of this world, my friend. Come on, you're setting the bar way too high here!

I absolutely love it! The foliage looks amazing. I am picturing a sweet shot of Storm Shadow leaping down from the ledge, sword drawn, as Snake Eyes looks up at him, pushing his accompanying teammate out of the way, his own sword at the ready.

Well, at least I've a better idea of how I want to pursue my own outer perimeter. Thanks man!

I'll be staring at these all night...no work for me, haha. Well, I am at work, but I will be way too distracted to do any!

Who me? Naw! I'm experimenting right in front of your eyes! But it is fun to do, so thanks for showing me some "sugar" baby... and you better cut down on the "pillow-talk" cause peeps are gonna get the wrong idea here ;-)


You read my fricken mind!!! A little crouching tiger, hidden cobra never killed anyone... or maybe it did, but whatever. I'll try rigg'n up some pics tomorrow night for wire-fighting! Woot!



Yeah, I'm totally pro-tall-grass action. It works wonders and looks crazy delicious in photos... would be great with a fence in-front of it for awesome perspective and realism.

I have no idea what you do for insane shift-work, but please no operating of heavy machinery... cause I don't want to be responsible for any dismemberments.

Cheers! ~ Paul.

Hmm, it's a trick...get an axe.



Excellent! I shall be looking forward to that!



Like I said, Friday, shopping spree at Michael's! I intend on working pretty hardcore on my set this weekend. I'd like to focus primarily on the building itself, the exterior anyway, but with all of this awesome work being shown off, it'll be damn difficult to not start on the interior and on the perimeter. *sigh*

I work for a teleradiology company, so it's all computer stuff, dealing with radiologists and various clients that send us x-rays, MRI's, cat-scans, etc. It's interesting and I enjoy it. I'm the shift supervisor, so, look at me, abusing my position for the greater Joe good!

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Cobra!
 

Here's a snapshot of "Crouching Tiger Hidden Cobra"...

Storm Shadow makes a surprise leap off the rock ledge, swords drawn, ready to slice the Silent Master...



Here's a slightly different perspective... which one do you prefer?



I'll take a few more shots to demonstrate the aura of this diorama ;-)

Damn I love these figures... my own personal time machine...

Cheers! ~ Paul.

Firefight on the beaches of Cobra Island
 

Here is a firefight action scene between Beachhead and Firefly on the beaches of Cobra Island...


Firefly jumps out of the bush, dual hand-guns poppin fresh. Beachhead jumps backwards into the tall grass, squeezing the trigger on his rifle.... he takes a slug in the torso.




As Beachhead falls backwards, his trigger finger is frozen solid - bullets scream from his automatic rifle...




Poetry in motion folks, Shakespear should be alive today. Here's some John-woo-tang-clantastic action!




I'm liking this diorama more and more as I take pictures and setup situations.

Muzzle Flashes - I suck at them. The ones you see above took a friggen' half-hour! I added the bullet-time motion thingies at the end for that added effect.

FYI - I used wires to suspend the figures in their poses. See if you can spot them!

Cheers! ~ Paul.

Very YES my friend! All of those shots are freakin' awesome! I'm in love with them. I believe I shall ask my fiance if it is ok if I marry them instead!! Seriously, flawless. Your muzzle-flashes are very well done, and the bullet-trails are cool. I can't see the wires at all! This set is a piece of art. I hope you and your son are very proud of it. Verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry much YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Excellent set! Judging from the timestamps on this thread, do you guys ever sleep? Or do you just eat, sleep, and live dios? It's okay by me, but I need to sleep every now and again... ;)

This set is cool, versatile for multiple dios, and can be used to tell a variety of stories. Well done, and kudos to you for sharing!

Hum....Dinger!
 

Thank you for your deep love and devotion... I now pronouce you and these photos man and wife... but I think you're getting the shaft in this deal really... after all I don't think these photos will "put-out" perse. I know she(photos) looks hot, and there's that unquencing lust, but believe me - I'd stick with your flesh-and-blood woman counterpart... at the very least your real fiance will touch your nether-regions, which is tops in my books.

You can love your toys, just don't lllooooooovvveeeee your toys; if you catch my drift.

I find the muzzle flashes hard to get them to completely integrate into the photo... they still look pasted on. Then again, there's shadowing and light being thrown around that you have to emulate - so it's hard to make it all happen inside an hour with photoshop. I'm sure some folks here have better methods.

I took these pics after my son went to bed, so this morning I showed him and he was pumped. He wants to do a dio story using powerpoint (as he's familiar with that app) and our photos.

Anywho, back to work!

Cheers! ~ Paul.

I was wondering if, when all is said and done, and several sweet sets were built, if you guys were going to do a dio-story. You've a penchant for the written word, that's for certain, so it'd be very interesting to see what kind of a story you guys can come up with. Plus, the shack would look great in the same setting as this rockface/trees area. Give it some thought.

I just got back from Michaels and Walmart. I have me some equipment! After a small nap, I'm going to get started. Maybe pics tomorrow morning (back to work tonight, afterall) of the progress. and then after that...KABOOM!!!!! I hope to be done with the exterior!

Stop typing and start workin' G! Take that beauty nap and get crack'n!

Can't wait for your building to have some exterior details!

Cheers! ~ Paul.

Face-Off at Cobra Island
 

Here's some more pics with this diorama... it's just made for action from the back section - that's right - we be body rockin' folks.

Go to the bathroom and grab a drink and snacks... then sit back and enjoy!

Firstly, let's start off slow

The Baroness leaps from a tree, determined to use her overly large paring knife to gut Gung Ho from stem to stern. Aaaaaaaaggghhhhh! For the unrequited love of Destro!!!




Now let's turn it up a notch

A lone Cobra Trooper out on patrol realizes 1 second too late that he's in a situation he no longer controls. Fate plays out in agonizing slow-motion...




Grab a tissue as we approach climax

Bullets dance across the air as Duke pulls moves that can only be described as ninjistic... that's right folks I just created a word, I have the technology...




Almost at the top - full speed ahead

The mind detaches from the central nervous system - reaction takes over ~ fight or fright ~ rounds pop from the barrel... the mind wanders, wonders why I ate that can of spam a half-hour ago.




We climax and it is a beautiful euphoria

There is no gravity, no air ~ Duke shuts down his senses, stops breathing and in between heart-beats lets the shot fly to it's target... he's taught it well... Direct hit. Direct hit.




This joe will live to fight another day.

We're done - clean up.


Cheers! ~ Paul.

Here's the setup
 

Here's a wide-view of the setup for the above photos.




Cheers! ~ Paul.

It's not even fair how cool that set is man! The shots are great and I can't believe nobody else is showing up for the lovefest in here! This is has been such an excellent tutorial and I would think, incredibly helpful to so many. A work of art, man. Pure and simple.

Thank you for your words of support.

The conspiracy has decided that since your brainwashing is complete, you are worthy to join our ranks.

Shortly, we will send you our personal injury and lobotamy waiver triplicate form. Please be sure to press hard as you write and keep the yellow copy for your own records.

Good day sir.

~ The Grande Pontiff

My 2 cents...
 

That is just awesome. I liked how you were able to include the family in on it's building.

Cheers! :)

I know this has been up for awhile, but it took me awhile to get around to it. Dizzam... The set itself isn't all that impressive BUT what you do with lighting, extra foliage and the action (in the close-ups) works wonders. I used to be able to do magical things when pulled in tight but I seem to have forgotten the art of MANIPULATING the photos. :o The work is awesome and I might just have to try some of that... Course, I also like to go outdoors for my shots too! hahahahahahahaaaaaaa *cough cough*

Thanks Sgt_DP!

I started creating the dios mainly to spend time with my son; learning how to be creative. It's a great way to bond with your kids while having 80's flash-backs ;-)

I posted the how-to's probably because I like to share and collaborate. Our family are not local, so it's been a good way for them to see the process in action.

Cheers! ~ Paul.

Thanks for the tips man, I love the pics and your dios.